NATO exercises code- named Cooperative Lancer/ Cooperative Longbow-2009/ will begin in Georgia on Wednesday. Taking part in the exercises held in the framework of the Partnership for Peace program are nine NATO countries and four countries participating under the Partnership program.
The exercises to be held in two stages – command -staff drills and field drills, will continue until June 3. The command-staff exercises that began Wednesday include drills to improve compatibility between partner- states at the level of multinational brigades operating during crisis situations. The command-staff exercises are to continue until May 19.
The field drills code-named Cooperative Longbow envisage preparations of peacekeeping operations at a battalion level. These exercises will be held on May 21- June 3. Both command-staff and field drills will be held on a test-site of a military base of the Georgian Defense Ministry in the neighborhood of Tbilisi. No military hardware will be used in the drills.
The Georgian Defense Ministry said the exercises were planned a year ago, first at NATO headquarters in Brussels in April 2008 and later at the Ismir conference (Turkey) held in November 2008 when details of the exercises were negotiated.
Neither the Georgian opposition that staged protests against the exercises nor an incident at a tank battalion based in Mukhrovani, which the Georgian Defense and Interior Ministries branded as aimed to ” thwart the NATO exercises”, have produced any effect on NATO”s campaign in Georgia.
The Georgian Defense Ministry said the mutiny in Mukhrovani has in no way told on NATO”s decision to begin its exercises in Georgia. NATO has not made any changes to the schedule of the exercises that are beginning on May 6, said a representative of the Georgian Defense Ministry.
